


And the Curse of Chillingham Castle

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: The Librarian (Movies), The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Castles, F/M, Ghosts, Haunting, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Mission Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:54:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5521058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was wrong. This was all completely and totally wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And the Curse of Chillingham Castle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TanyaReed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TanyaReed/gifts).



> Set in Stone's Loom AU, but before the series.
> 
> Huge thanks to my beta, ML Raven!

This was wrong. This was all completely and totally wrong.

Stone paced back and forth across the dingy hospital waiting room, thinking rapidly. This was supposed to be a relatively easy job, from the Library's point of view; just get into the deserted castle of Chillingham, find one of the missing Tide Jewels, and return to the Library. It had been almost easy enough that he shouldn't have even needed a Guardian.

Now he was stuck in a small British waiting room... waiting. Waiting to hear if Eve was going to be okay. Waiting to hear if she was even going to live.

Against his will, Stone's mind flashed back to the mission.

*L*

"What are we looking for, again?" Eve asked as they approached the castle. It wasn't on par with Buckingham Palace, but it was still a sizable manor: a former duchy from the 1200s. Stone appreciated its size as a wonderful example of medieval masonry. Eve analyzed it for escape routes and places where the enemy could hide. There were regular 'ghost-hunting' tours, but the groups were easy to slip past.

"What are we looking for, again?" Eve repeated with a fond smile. Thankfully she was used to Stone geeking out over architecture: he had done it often enough in their five years together.

"A large opal, about the size of your palm; probably set in some kind of necklace or pendant, possibly a diadem."

"Diadem?" Eve repeated.

"Crown." Stone clarified.

"Ah." Eve had been a little touchy about having to ask for clarification when they first met, but she had gotten much more mellow about it. Languages, art, and jewelry simply weren't her areas of expertise. "And when you say opal..."

"You don't know what an opal is?" Stone was surprised. It was a standard birthstone - though often substituted for the cheaper rose zircon because of its rarity.

"Actually, I do. I even know that opals come in many different colors and types, not just the typical white and rainbow kind. So when you say opal..."

"I apologize," Stone said, a little impressed. "This is a dark pinpoint opal."

"Okay, good." Eve kept walking, but Stone could tell from her tone of voice that there was about to be a follow up question. "And when you say dark pinpoint..."

Stone smiled. "Black with small pinpoint-like specks, as opposed to rectangular, random, or line-like shapes of color inside it. Well, usually dark means black, but possibly a dark blue or green."

"Ah. So, sparkly black opal the size of my hand, mounted on some kind of chain or crown." Eve summarized as she opened a door for him.

"Basically."

"And what does it do again?"

"According to the Japanese legends, it controls the ocean, or any other body of water, really. But the bigger the body, the bigger the damage it can cause."

"So, monsoons, tidal waves?"

"Forty day earth-clearing floods."

"Got it."

"Oh, and we've got _it!_ " Stone said, pointing at a display cabinet over her shoulder. The glass cover was reinforced with metal straps, which did nothing to hide the large opal, or the crown it was mounted on.

"So it was a diadem!" Eve said, smiling.

"You'll look lovely in it," Stone teased.

"Hah. The glass is the weakest point," Eve pointed out. She was used to finding the weaknesses in things, but she allowed him to look first and tell her which part he preferred that she damage, or not.

Stone examined the case. The wooden sides weren't reinforced - anyone could break them - but he hated to ruin such historic craftsmanship. The glass didn't appear to be period, however; it was probably replaced in the last forty years or so. "Yeah, I've got no problem with the glass. Just try to avoid the edges."

Eve quickly pulled her gun and brought the butt down square in the center of the glass. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of impact and the crash echoed off the walls. "Quickly," Stone warned.

Eve raised her gun again for a final blow, and the glass shattered noisily. Stone reached for the diadem but suddenly he froze, his hand clasped in a strong, if invisible grip.

"Wha-"

Eve swung her gun at his arm, connecting solidly with something over Stone's wrist. Seconds later he was released and an invisible force grabbed Eve and flung her into the ceiling. The gun fell from her hand as she grunted in pain. A second later she was being slammed into the far wall.

"Eve!" Stone yelled. He grabbed her gun, but there was no visible threat.

Eve crashed back into the ceiling, and he could see her eyes fluttering as she struggled to stay conscious. Suddenly, a hole opened in the floor beneath her.

"No!" Stone dove forward, but he wasn't fast enough. The invisible force let go of Eve and she fell into the hole, which closed a second before he could follow. Slamming into the ground jarred his whole body, but Stone didn't care. Eve was taken.

It didn't take him long to tuck the diadem into his satchel and then find a tour guide, and even less to spin his story. He was a librarian, doing research on the castle. His partner had disappeared. Where could she be?

At first the young man had suggested that Eve had simply left or gotten lost, and Stone was tempted to mention the flying and magically disappearing holes, but a second guide stepped forward. "She could be in the oubliette," the girl suggested.

"There's an oubliette here?" Stone asked.

"Yes. People get lost and find themselves in it some times," she explained. "They seem pretty confused afterwards."

"Confused how?" Stone questioned.

The male guide snorted. "They claim that a hole magically appeared beneath them and they fell."

The girl didn't seem to sure. "What?" Stone asked. "What aren't you telling me?"

She squirmed, but finally answered. "Most of them had to go to the hospital, because they actually did sustain large falls."

"Show me this oubliette!" Stone demanded.

*L*

They took him to the sub-dungeon, where he found Eve at the bottom of a forty-foot hole. She was unconscious, with a small trickle of blood coming from her nose.

The EMTs had taken her to the nearest hospital, where she'd been rushed into surgery. That was... Stone checked his watch; that was six hours ago, and he hadn't heard anything since a nurse had emerged two hours ago to let him know that things were stable.

Stone wanted to make sure she was going to be okay, but mostly, he wanted to know what the hell had happened at the Castle!

"Judson!" he growled.

A janitor pushed a cart past Stone and then stopped, abruptly. He turned, revealing a familiar face. "Did you get the Tide Jewel?" he asked.

Stone slapped his satchel. "Right here. Now what about Eve? Is she going to be alright?"

Judson sighed. "That... that I don't know."

"You don't kn- you don't- how can you not know? Go posses her surgeon or whatever it is you do and find out!"

"That wouldn't be a good idea. He's in the middle of some delicate work."

"Then a nurse! Anyone!" Stone railed. "Wait, you know what he's doing? Then you know how she's doing? Tell me!"

"I don't think-"

Stone felt a sinking feeling in his gut. "What aren't you telling me? Is she already dead?"

"No! No. Nothing like that. I just don't know her current condition. She's tough, though. She'll probably make it."

That wasn't the most reassuring thing Stone had ever heard, but it was about the most concrete and reassuring Judson ever got, so he accepted it. "What happened in the castle?!"

"I think you found the ghost of John Sage. He was the lead torturer at Chillingham Castle during the 14th century. He was famous for throwing people down the oubliette."

"So what'd we do to piss him off?" Stone demanded. "It wasn't like we were trying to steal his torturing stuff."

"Weren't you?"

Stone thought back to the mission. They had been in the highest room in the tower, the Edwards Room, if he recalled correctly. Stone could recount every aspect of the style of the room, but the history of that specific castle was something he hadn't researched.

"Where was the Tidal Jewel?" Judson asked.

"In a display case."

"And-"

"What else was in it?" Stone caught onto his train of thought. "Wait a minute. The diadem was in the center, there was a book to it's right, and to the left... a hatchet? Medieval, rusty, not well cared for."

Judson frowned. "That would- would probably be it."

"So this didn't actually have anything to do with the Tidal Jewel?" Stone asked. "Just, what? Wrong place at the wrong time?"

"It would appear so." Judson considered that. "Although, we might want to actually look into that hatchet at- at a later time. If those tour guides were correct about the, uh, number of people who have been hurt."

"Later," Stone growled. "After I know that Eve's okay."

"Oh, oh, she got out of surgery five minutes ago."

"What?"

"Mister Stone?" a new voice said.

Stone spun around and found a doctor in rumpled teal scrubs. "How is she?"

"Major Baird is doing as well as can be expected," the doctor said. "She has several broken bones, but we've set them. Her internal injuries were worrying, but not severe, and we believe we've caught all the damage. She should be fine in a few weeks, barring any complications."

Stone let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, Doc." He turned to Judson, but the man had vanished; the janitor was quietly mopping the floor a few feet away. Shrugging, he turned back to the surgeon. "Can I see her?"

"Of course. Right this way."

As Stone hurried after the doctor, he felt his satchel bounce against his side, the shape of the crown bumping his ribs. He'd have to get Eve something pretty to make up for this. She wasn't the flashy jewelry kind, but maybe a small opal necklace, or hair comb. Something to apologize for getting her hurt.


End file.
